


love songs for the genuinely cunning

by Rine3195



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, FUCK JACOB, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:33:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25011700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rine3195/pseuds/Rine3195
Summary: I wrote this for me and I actually kind of like it so
Relationships: Celia/Victor/Zachary, Original Female Character/Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 9
Kudos: 5





	love songs for the genuinely cunning

Zachary tapped his foot anxiously, looking down at his watch. They weren't home yet, which he could understand. Maybe an interrogation had run late. Wouldn't be the first time. But it was weird that either Celia or Victor hadn't texted him and told him what was happening.

Bella walked over to him, looking up at Zachary with his big eyes. Zachary sighed, scooping the cat up. "Sorry, Bella. They aren't home yet. Trust me, I wish they were too."

After a few more minutes of sitting in silence and petting Bella, trying to distract himself, Zachary heard the door open. He stood up and turned to face the pair entering. "Where the hell have you two been?" His voice was so panicked it was almost embarrassing. "I was worried sick!"

Neither of them said anything. Something was seriously off. Victor was grabbing his left arm, which he only ever did when he was anxious, and Celia hadn't said a word. They were gripping each other's shoulders like they'd fall over without support.

Zachary stepped back. "What happened?" he asked, reaching for the light switch. He couldn't see them properly with the lights this low. However, Zachary wasn't prepared for what he was met with. He gasped.

Celia and Victor were covered in bruises and cuts like they'd been interrogating each other. Celia's right cheek was swollen, with a clear handprint across it, and she had a few long cuts across her arms. But Victor definitely looked worse for wear. His eye was almost swollen shut and there was a horrible looking gash that was bleeding slightly on his opposite cheek.

"What the-"

Celia spoke up, cold as steel, but her mask was ruined by the shake in her voice. "You need to clean that gash. I can clean my wounds by myself, but you need to help Victor. He's in no state to patch himself up."

Victor was staring ahead blankly, clutching his arm. Zachary could see tear stains drying on his cheeks. He looked over at Celia, who stood hunched into herself. Her beloved leather jacket was gone and her eyes kept on darting from corner to corner. Zachary decided right then and there that he would kill whoever did this to them.

"Who the hell did this to you?" He voiced the thought out loud, looking to both of them. 

Celia looked down at the floor, and Victor croaked out: "J-Jacob."

Zachary gritted his teeth. "Celia, go clean yourself up, okay? Victor, come on."

Victor leaned on Zachary's shoulder and they walked to the bathroom. Victor sat on top of the counter as Zachary pressed a washcloth to the gash. "Victor, I need you to hold that there, okay?"

Victor nodded slowly and held the washcloth to his face. Zachary pulled an ice pack out from under the sink and pressed it to Victor's eye gently. He flinched at the cold. Zachary couldn't see any bleeding, so that was good.

"Jacob's scary." Victor mumbled, tapping his fingers against his thigh. "He hurt Celia. I tried to stop him, Zach."

"I'm sure you did, darling." Zachary said, blood boiling. He wanted to scream, but instead slowly peeled the washcloth away from Victor's cheek. It had stopped bleeding, so he pulled the cloth away and looked around for the rubbing alcohol.

"He slapped Celia, so I punched him, and then he called his cronies in. Everything went downhill from there."

"You did punch him, though. Good job there." Zachary said, reaching for the alcohol and starting to pour it onto another washcloth.

"I did." A small smile broke out across Victor's face, which made Zachary relieved. The smile faded fast. "I punched him. Oh god. He's gonna kill me. Shit."

"Hey, hey, hey. Look at me." Zachary tilted Victor's face towards him. "It is gonna be okay. We are gonna be okay. I swear on my fucking life."

Victor looked at him, panic in his eyes. "You promise?"

"Swear to God." Shit, had he always been that close to Victor? He was still holding onto his face. Why the hell wasn't he doing anything? Why hadn't he moved? Victor had really pretty eyes. Should he move away or-

Victor made the decision for Zachary, leaning in and kissing him.

It was an awkward kiss, with Victor still holding the ice pack to his face and Zachary still holding the washcloth covered in alcohol. But it was kind and sweet and way too short, because Zachary pulled away, remembering exactly what the situation was. "Victor, I need to clean that gash. How'd you get that?"

Victor looked almost disappointed as Zachary pulled away but when the look vanished, Zachary brushed it off, figuring he had imagined it. "One of them had a knife. Said it was a warning." 

Zachary felt himself shaking with anger, but didn't say a word, just pressed the washcloth to Victor's gash gently. Victor hissed and flinched away from the cloth. "Fucking hell."

"Sorry, dear. I know it stings." Zachary carefully dabbed the cloth to Victor's face. "I don't want you getting some disease and dying on me."

Victor nodded and winced again. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I know it's cold. Remember when I had to get an IV and freaked out? You're fine."

Victor laughed. "I remember that." He took the washcloth from Zachary and pressed it to the cut. "I've got it, Zach. Don't worry."

Then, Zachary noticed something. "Your glasses. Where'd your glasses go?"

Victor didn't look him in the eye, instead glaring at the floor. "Take a wild guess."

"They broke them. God, I'm gonna kill them. Where'd Celia's jacket go?"

"We ran out and she was able to stop the bleeding from my cheek somewhat using her jacket. We heard a noise and got the hell out of there. She must have left her jacket behind or something in the rush."

"Celia loves that jacket." Zachary mumbled, lost in thought. "Didn't you give it to her?"

"Yeah, for Christmas last year. Here, we should go check on her."

Celia was standing at the sink, scrubbing at her arms with a paper towel aggressively.

"Celia? You're gonna make the cuts bleed."

Celia turned to face them, eyes empty. "What?" she asked, her voice far away.

"Here," Victor said, stepping forward and taking the paper towel away. "You need to put something on those. Come on, dear."

There was a heavy silence for the rest of the night. It was the first time in a while when the house was completely quiet. They ate dinner, Victor picking at his food and Celia not touching it at all, and went to bed.

Victor passed out almost immediately and Bella hopped onto the bed, nestling at his feet. Celia and Zachary sat at the edge of the bed. The silence was crushing, so Zachary broke it.

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, darling."

Try again. "I'm sorry it happened to you."

Celia's eyes were fierce. "It always happens to us. Always. We can never do anything about it. That's changing right now."

"Celia-"

"Zachary. I cannot keep living like this. You know what this is? It's fear. We're governed by it and we don't even know it. Do you really want to keep feeling like this? Trapped and afraid?" Celia grabbed his shoulders, desperation etched into her face. "Because I cannot and if you can, that's fine, but-"

Zachary put a hand on her cheek and kissed her. Celia leaned into the kiss-and then quickly pulled away. "Wait."

"What?"

She looked at Zachary, shaking her head. "No. You like Victor. It's written all over your face every time you look at him."

Zachary sighed. He had expected this to happen, but didn't know how to explain it. "I do-"

"So then why would you kiss me? Are you just fucking toying with me?" She let go of his shoulders, pushing him away from her. "I don't-"

"Celia, please let me finish!"

Victor turned over in his sleep and Celia sighed. "We're discussing this in the morning. I can't keep living like this." And something in her tone told Zachary she wasn't just talking about Jacob's reign of terror.

~-~

Breakfast the next morning was another uncomfortable affair. Celia at least ate a few bites of cereal and Victor ate his toast. No one said a word. 

"So, Celia. What's the plan?"

Celia looked up at Zachary. "About what?"

"Um, about Jacob."

"Right." She set her spoon down carefully on the table. "We kill him."

Victor dropped his toast. "What?"

"We kill him." She said it as casually as she had suggested going to the store for groceries. 

"Celia, we can't kill him. Man made a deal with the devil or something."

"I have an idea, but you aren't gonna like it. It's, um. Messy."

Victor and Zachary gave each other a look and turned back to Celia. "I think we can deal with messy."

Celia smiled, broad and absolutely wicked. "Good."

~-~

The plan was messy. It was also absolutely insane.

Zachary fixed his jacket, tugging at the sleeves anxiously. "Are you sure this'll work?"

"Absolutely, dear." Celia reached up and smoothed the collar of his jacket down, almost on reflex. "I promise." Her hands froze and quickly moved back, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Sorry."

As Zachary tried to tell her that she had nothing to apologize for, that he loved (loved? Loved) her as much as he did Victor, that he would never hurt her, the office door started to open and Celia darted around the corner.

"Zachary. Come in." Jacob smiled at him, mouth closed. Zachary adjusted his jacket one last time and stepped into Jacob's office for (hopefully) the last time.

"You wanted to see me." It was a statement, not a question that Jacob posed as they sat down.

"I did. It's about-"

"Make it quick. I'm a very busy man." Jacob said, tapping his fingers on the table.

Zachary sighed. "I was going to try and make it quick, but-"

"But what?" 

He gritted his teeth. "Stop interrupting me. I don't appreciate you attacking my co-workers like that."

Jacob raised his eyebrows. "What on earth do you mean?"

"Two days ago. You set your bodyguards on my partners with no warning. This has happened too many times, Jacob. It's time for it to stop."

Jacob's eyes flashed. "What do you care?" His tone was chilling, cutting to the bone. "What, you in love with them or something?"

"Does it matter?" Zachary's heart was pounding. "I just want them to be treated well."

"You do like them, don't you?"

"Fine! I do! I love them! So what?!" Zachary yelled, pounding his fist on the table and standing up.

There was an awkward pause. Then, there was a knock on the office door. 

"Enter!" Jacob barked, not breaking eye contact with Zachary, who sank back down in his chair. 

A young woman with dark, curly hair stepped in and set down a coffee mug. "Sir, I was told to deliver this to you?"

"Ah, thank you." Jacob picked up the mug and started sipping at it. The woman shot Zachary a look and walked out as Jacob started to cough. "What the hell?"

"I'm sure you'll recognize that taste, Jacob." Zachary almost didn't recognize his own voice. He sounded like Celia. "I think your reign of terror is over."

Jacob laughed, a horrible, raspy sound. "Fucking fool. I can't die."

"That's what you think." Zachary hissed. Jacob glared one more time, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

Celia came rushing in with the woman who delivered the coffee. 

"He's out?" The woman asked.

"Oh. Zach, this is Elena. She's helping us." Celia kept looking over at Zachary, another unreadable expression on her face.

Elena nodded fiercely. "We need to move this body. Right now."

~-~

Everything after that was a blur. Zachary couldn't even remember how they eventually moved the body. All he remembered was finally sitting down in the living room, back at his house. Victor had disappeared to the basement and left Zachary and Celia sitting in an awkward silence. Celia had made tea, but neither of them were drinking it. Bella had settled by their feet and even he seemed to be cringing at the awkwardness.

"Celia, I would never hurt you intentionally. Me kissing you was stupid and impulsive, and I'm sorry."

Celia stared straight ahead, frown prominent on her face.

Zachary sighed. "I'm sorry-"

"You said you loved me and Victor to Jacob. I heard you outside the door."

"Oh." _Oh? OH????_ "I didn't know how to tell you."

"I didn't either."

Wait. "You-"

"Yeah. I fell in love with you and Victor. Kind of at the same time."

Zachary felt himself smile. God, he couldn't remember the last time he'd genuinely done that. "Thank God."

Celia smiled back at him.

"I dismembered someone!" Victor said cheerfully, walking up the stairs from the basement. He stopped when he saw Zachary and Celia smiling. "What's up? Why do you guys look so happy?"

Zachary and Celia gave each other a look. "Um, Victor, we need to talk about-"

"What? The fact that we all have crushes on each other? Yeah, figured."

Zachary felt his smile grow tenfold. "Oh. Yeah. Do you-"

"Why wouldn't I? You guys are both incredible."

"Well, that was easy." Celia remarked sarcastically, the grin on her face ruining it.

Zachary hit her on the shoulder, all of them laughing in relief and love.

"Hey, uh. Victor, what'd you do with the body parts?"

"Burned em. He doesn't need a burial."

"Good job."

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone finds this please ask me stuff about this trio bc I love them


End file.
